Category: Buddhism

The Tibetan civilization boasts a rich culture. Art Tibetan art is deeply religious in nature, from the exquistely detailed statues found in Gompas to wooden carvings and the intricate designs of the Thangka paintings. Tibetan art can be found in almost every object and every aspect of daily life. Thangka paintings, a syncrestism of Chinese scroll-painting with Nepalese and Kashmiri...

The Tibetan Buddhist canon is a loosely defined list of sacred texts recognized by various sects of Tibetan Buddhism. In addition to earlier foundational Buddhist texts from early Buddhist schools, mostly the Sarvastivada, and mahayana texts, the Tibetan canon includes Tantric texts. The Tibetan Canon underwent a final compilation in 14th Century by Bu-ston (1290-1364). The Tibetans did not have...

Tibetan Buddhism is the body of religious Buddhist doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and the Himalayan region. It is a multifaceted and integrated teaching, naturally implementing methods for all human-condition levels: Hinayana, Mahayana, Vajrayana (Tantric Path) and Ati Yoga (Dzogchen). In the past Tibetan Buddhism was referred to by some as “Lamaism” out of a misunderstanding of the role...

Thubten Gyatso (born February 12, 1876; died December 17, 1933), also spelled Thupten Gyatso, was the 13th Dalai Lama of Tibet. He was an intelligent reformer who proved himself a skillful politician when Tibet became a pawn in the great game between Russia, China, and Britain. He was also responsible for restoring discipline in monastic life and increasing the number...

After much meditation, the Buddha concluded that everything in the physical world (plus everything in the phenomenology of psychology) is marked by three characteristics, known as the three characteristics of existence, three signs of being or Dharma Seals. These three characteristics are inherent in all phenomena of being. Together the three characteristics of existence are called ti-lakkhana, in Pali; or...

The Three Jewels, also rendered as Three Treasures or Triple Gem (Sanskrit: Triratna, also Ratna-traya, Pali: Tiratna, Chinese: 三宝, Sānbǎo, Japanese: Sambō or Sampō) are the three central concepts in Buddhism. – The Buddha (Chn: 佛, Fó, Jpn: Butsu) is the Awakened One. see also The Tathagata and Sakyamuni Buddha. – The Dharma (Chn: 法, Fǎ, Jpn: Hō) is the...

Many Buddhists in the Nikaya, Mahayana, and Vajrayana traditions consider there to be three type of Buddha: Samyaksam Buddha (often simply referred to as “Buddha”), Pratyeka Buddha, and Sravaka Buddha. Contents The three kinds of Buddha Samyaksam Buddha Pratyeka Buddha Sravaka Buddha Mahayana & Hinayana Skillful means rather than ultimate teaching The three kinds of Buddha All three types of...

Thrangu Rinpoche (pronounced TRONG-goo RIN-poh-chay) was born in 1933 in Kham, Tibet. He is a prominent tulku (reincarnate lama) in the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism, the ninth reincarnation in his particular line. His full name and title is the Very Venerable Ninth Khenchen Thrangu Tulku, Karma Lodrö Lungrik Maway Senge. “Khenchen” denotes great scholarly accomplishment, and the term “Rinpoche“...

Thoughts Without a Thinker: Psychotherapy from a Buddhist Perspective (1995, BasicBooks, ISBN 0465039316) is a book by Mark Epstein, and it deals with the conception or image we have of ourselves — In other words, who we think we are. The book also takes into consideration Buddhism, (often only referred to as Eastern psychology, even its original psychology), and has...

The Thirty Verses on Consciousness-only (Sanskrit: Triṃsikā; Chinese: 唯識三十論頌, Weishi Sanshi Lun Song) is a brief poetic treatise by the Indian Buddhist scholar Vasubandhu. It was composed in the 4th century CE and is one of the core texts of the Yogacara school. It was translated into Chinese by Xuanzang in 648 at Hongfu Monastery.

Thiền Buddhism (禪宗 Thiền Tông) is the Vietnamese name for the school of Chan Buddhism, which in turn is most familiarly known to those in the West by its Japanese name, Zen Buddhism. Thien is ultimately derived from Chan Zong 禪宗 (simplified, 禅宗), itself a derivative of the Sanskrit “Dhyāna” or ध्यान. The most famous practitioner of Thiền Buddhism in...

Dr. Thich Thien An (September 1926 – November 1980) was an influential teacher of Vietnamese Zen Buddhism who was active in the United States. Dr. Thich Thien-An came to the United States from Vietnam in the summer of 1966 as an exchange professor. He taught philosophy at the University of California, Los Angeles. His students discovering that he was not...

Thích Nhất Hạnh (IPA: listen (help·info); zh. 釋一行 Chinese Pinyin: Shì Yī Xíng), born in 1926, is an expatriate Vietnamese Buddhist monk, peace activist, and prolific author in English. (The title Thích applies to all Vietnamese Buddhist monks. Further nuances are discussed below.) Contents Biography Names applied to him Thich Nhat Hanh Quotes Selected works Biography Thich Nhat Hanh was...

Theravada (Pali; Sanskrit: Sthaviravada) is one of the eighteen (or twenty) Nikāya schools that formed early in the history of Buddhism. These developed in India during the century subsequent to the death of the Buddha. The name of the school means “Teachings of the Elders” which implies that this was the most conservative school of Buddhism, a school that has...